Vibrating screeds are very well known in the art. Indeed, they are generally used for leveling off a horizontal surface such as a floor, typically made of a malleable material, such as concrete and the like, prior to the hardening thereof.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,175,365 B1 granted to BREEDING on Feb. 13, 2007, relates to a portable vibratory concrete screed. The screed includes a screed blade including a flat bottom surface extending between a front edge of the screed blade and a rear edge of the screed blade. The screed also includes a vibrator cartridge assembly, with an eccentric weight, releasably coupled to the screed blade. The blade assembly is capable of receiving many different blade styles. The screed includes a handle assembly extending from both sides of the vibratory assembly. The handle assembly includes adjustable and lockable grips.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,467 B1 granted to ROUILLARD on Oct. 2, 2001, relates to a vibrating screed for surfacing concrete. There is described a vibrating screed for surfacing concrete which comprises a surfacing blade, a pair of handle assemblies mounted to said blade, a motor, vibration causing mechanism and a transmission connecting the motor to the vibration causing mechanism such that, when the motor is in operation it causes the transmission to rotate with the transmission being adapted to impart a vibratory motion to the blade. The transmission includes a flexible joint having an angled configuration to allow the motor to be mounted rearwardly of a leading edge of the blade. Each handle assembly comprises a main elongated tubular member and a handle mounted at a proximal end thereof. The handle includes a first tubular element mounted around the main tubular member, a second tubular element extending sideways from the first element and a third tubular element extending around the second element, with a grip member being mounted to the third element. The first element is capable of relative rotatable and translational displacement with respect to the main tubular member, and the third element and grip member are capable of rotational displacement relative to the second element. Clamps are provided for securing the first and third tubular elements in selected positions relative to the main tubular member and to the second tubular element, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,851 B2 granted to SINA on Jan. 24, 2006, relates to a concrete screed with vibration isolation. There is described a vibratory concrete screed which includes a vibration isolation system that minimizes the transmission of vibrations to the operator under normal operating conditions, but becomes more rigid during screed control forces applied to the blade through the isolation system when the operator applies greater forces to the operator handle. The system includes low durometer elastomer vibration isolators isolating the operator handle from the vibration exciter and screed blade in a manner that limits vertical compressive movement of the isolators, yet permits substantially greater horizontal shear movement to effectively isolate the operator from vibration. The isolator mounting arrangement also includes retainers that engage the isolator to limit the amplitude of horizontal shear movement when the operator applies a greater control force to the operator handle.
Also known to the Applicant are the following US patents and patent applications which describe similar and/or other related devices: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,707,559; 3,067,656; 4,340,351; 4,343,568; 4,650,366; 4,765,772; 4,798,494; 4,832,525; 4,838,730; 4,848,961; 4,944,198; 5,375,942; 5,573,344; 5,857,803; 5,984,571; 6,089,787; 6,139,217; 6,200,065 B1; 6,223,495 B1; 6,231,331 B1; 6,267,532 B1; 6,296,467 B1; 6,322,286 B1; 6,374,569 B1; 6,705,799 B2; 7,044,681 B2; 7,175,365 B1; 7,204,659 B2; 2005/0069385 A1; 2005/0100407 A1; 2005/0169707 A1; 2006/0133896 A1; and 2007/0154260 A1.
Also known to the Applicant are the vibrating screeds described in the following Web site: www.magicscreed.com.
It is also known in the art that a substantial drawback associated with these types of conventional vibrating screeds is that the profile of the blades used is not optimal (very often, they have a “segmented” profile), which results in an undesirable rearwardly accumulation of material behind the blade as it is passed over the material to be leveled. Moreover, very often, the vibratory movement which is transmitted to the blade is also transmitted to the handles of the apparatus, and thus onto the hands of the user, which is undesirable for obvious reasons. Moreover, it can be seen that the handle bars of such a conventional vibrating screed take up a lot of space, which is disadvantageous for storing and/or transportation purposes, and cannot be easily adjusted to allow a more ergonomic use of the vibrating screed for each individual user that may present different physical features or capabilities. Therefore, it would be useful to provide an improved vibrating screed which would have components easily adjustable so as to be better configured for a given user. Moreover, another substantial drawback associated with vibrating screeds of the prior art is that the general design is such that the components thereof may not be easily interchanged in the event of inspection, maintenance and/or repair. Furthermore, another substantial drawback associated with conventional vibrating screeds is that they use gas-operated motor assemblies which need to be operated in well ventilated areas, otherwise they may present health concerns to the users of the vibrating screeds. Moreover, another substantial drawback associated with such conventional vibrating screeds is that the gas-operated motor assemblies are typically very loud when operated, and also represent environmental concerns due to carbon monoxide exhaust. Moreover, conventional vibrating screeds which are operated by gas-operated motor assemblies tend to be heavier because the supply of fuel is directly mounted onto the vibrating screed, thereby making it heavier, which is also undesirable in terms of manoeuvrability, transmission of vibrations to the leveling blade, etc.
Hence, in light of the above-discussed, there is a need for an improved vibrating screed which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the aforementioned prior art problems and drawbacks.